


The Lady Mai

by shipping_ruined_my_life



Series: The Fire Lord's Favourite Restaurant [8]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Drinking, Gen, Humor, Post-Canon, Post-War, Restaurants, feel good, good vibes, zuko the platypus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29924217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipping_ruined_my_life/pseuds/shipping_ruined_my_life
Summary: Zuko brings Mai to his favourite restaurant for lunch.
Relationships: Mai & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: The Fire Lord's Favourite Restaurant [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833094
Comments: 15
Kudos: 121





	The Lady Mai

**Author's Note:**

> I have struggled a bit with this particular chapter but i finally feel at peace. There are some parts i wanted to write and it felt jumbled or forced and then i realized i can just write what i want. canon is irrelevant, the story is mine, and i do this for fun. Enjoy! Also I feel that this is a few years post canon or something and the drinking age in imperial times was probably not that strict anyway. plus it's 18 where i'm from so i feel that canon ended when zuko was 17? so he's like 18-19 here and it's fine.

One day the teen was accompanied by the Lady Mai. He had been a regular for the past five months or so, but he had never brought noble company before. They all knew he worked in the palace but how well connected he was could be anyone's guess.

Many of the nobles nearby greeted them politely from a distance, which they both returned casually. It wasn't unusual for high nobility to come across their restaurant but it was by no means an everyday thing. Some nobles seemed inclined to approach them but when they saw that the teens had linked arms they realized now wasn't the place.

Hana straightened her back and greeted them warmly.

"Welcome back, young Lord, Lady Mai." She bowed professionally and put her hands in the official flame sign. She always treated her customers with respect but when she had nobles near she put extra attention to the small details.

"Hi Hana. It's good to see you again." The teen greeted her casually in return. The Lady Mai nodded in greeting.

"As always." Hana agreed.

"Do you have any tables in the inner courtyard available?" he asked hopefully. "We'd like to sit by the pond if that's alright." He unlinked his arm from the Lady's so that they both would fit through the doorway. He let her go in first, it was only polite.

Hana readily agreed and brought them to a nice table in the shade. She didn't miss the looks the Lady Mai shot the teen as they walked. It seemed to be a mix of disbelief and confusion, but nobles were always so hard to read. To be honest, Hana didn't know what she or the teen had done to deserve those looks. Maybe he was too relaxed.

"What." The teen asked her flatly, clearly seeing something in her expression that normal people couldn't decipher. Lady Mai shook her head. "Never mind." She sighed.

They were seated and waited for their server. The teen seemed distracted by the fish in the pond, while the lady seemed to try to gather her thoughts. Hana could not imagine how someone could be absentminded when the Lady was right there, commanding the room in the way only aristocrats could. Maybe the young Lord was immune from working in the palace?

Hana hurried to the kitchens and slammed the door shut. The chefs didn't pay her much attention but the Manager raised an eyebrow at her sudden appearance. The servers were mostly busy relaying orders or trying to gather as many plates as possible.

"Who wants to serve Lady Mai?" she asked gleefully. "She's here with our mystery boy, inner courtyard."

The motion in the kitchen almost stopped at once, which was a feat in itself. Daizan, Tarri, and Naku exchanged a look. Usually they had no reservations serving anyone but the Lady Mai was a big deal. More so than her father and his position in court, the Lady was still the best of friends with Princess Azula, the whole Avatar team, and allegedly dating the Fire Lord. The rumour mill was undecided.

"Tarri has most experience." Daizan supplied almost immediately. Rich for someone who could charm any customer.

"Naku is small and cute, nothing could go wrong." Tarri countered expertly.

"Daizan is better looking, so he should do it." Naku protested, as if deflecting could distract from the fact that she was someone who lifted the mood of the entire room just by being in it.

"Everybody likes Naku." He supplied with a grin.

"Daizan is more likeable." She countered.

"Naku is so sweet they don't even think of prices."

"Daizan is a swindler in disguise."

"Oh, name one thing?" Daizan teased gently.

"Do you even remember last week when-"

"Ahem." The Manager interjected. "If you are done squabbling like children, our customers are waiting." He would have followed with a stern look, maybe a raised eyebrow, but it seemed to have worked regardless.

"I'll do it." Tarri gave in. "They're in my section anyway."

"Any you'll tell us all about it?" Naku asked sweetly.

"No." said Tarri, even sweeter, with a gleam in her eye. Then she picked up the menus and was out of the kitchen.

She had a few seconds to rapidly gather herself during her walk to the garden area. How would she approach them? Nobility was always a bit tricky. The matter was solved for her when she got there. She was a professional after all.

"Welcome, my name is Tarri and I'll be your server today." She started by calmly handing them their menus. "Can I get you started with anything to drink while you look over your menus?"

Lady Mai absently flipped through the menu and replied easily. "I'll have water with lemon."

"Just water for me, Tarri." The young lord added nicely.

"Of course, I'll be right back."

She walked back to the kitchen area and pointedly avoided eye contact with Daizan. She felt his eyes follow her as she poured the glasses. She deliberately did it just a bit slower than usual so he would know she was ignoring him. He could call her petty if he wanted to. And if she taunted him on purpose, well, it was all too easy to rile him up.

After she dropped off the drinks she attended her other tables as well. The family of five nearby had accidentally spilled some food on the floor, and the children were chattering loudly about dessert. The parents smiled in a way that sternly said no to dessert even though they didn't say the words out loud. She wasn't about to entice the kids' energetic mission, and simply got them their check instead.

In between them paying and leaving she had time to fetch more glasses to another table, get some empty plates off another table, and then she was back at the nobles' again.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked attentively, pen and paper at the ready.

The teen quickly read through the page once again while the lady ordered.

"I'll have the extra spicy grilled squid."

"And I'll have the shrimp stir fry."

Tarri made a note on her pad and looked over them once more.

"Great, anything else?"

"What wine would you recommend?" Mai asked Tarri. She got a feeling she was being tested.

"For lunch?" the Lord asked surprised. Lady Mai shot him a quelling look.

"Did you not promise to entertain me for the afternoon? No meetings?" she asked sweetly. Or as sweetly she could while looking straight into his soul.

The Lord sucked his teeth while he gave it a thought. "I mean, we are cleared until five." He thought some more and came to a conclusion. "And we have already rearranged our schedules three times to make space for lunch."

"Would be a waste not to go all out." Lady Mai agreed.

"In that case," Tarri started "I would recommend our house white. It's locally grown on the hills down the caldera, and very popular. Dry yet very refreshing. We also have imports from Ba Sing See, although they are sweeter than what we usually serve. There is also an excellent Zaofu white that pairs excellently with your food in particular. It's on the edge of how sour it can be and still highlight the richness of the food. Very good year."

"We'll have the Zaofu, then." Mai agreed easily.

"I'll be right back with that." Tarri agreed. And if the Zaofu white was just a bit lower in alcohol content than the others that could be a happy coincidence indeed.

On their way out an hour later Hana caught the Lady's soft voice saying "I can see why you like this place so much."

**Author's Note:**

> also thank you for all your kind comments they bring me life and i love to hear what you think <3 and the reveal will be at the last last last part and we'll see how many parts i do in between


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